A few weeks ago, I received a copy
of Lightning-Fast Japanese by Carolyn Woods.
The book is a learner’s guide to teaching you’re children basic Japanese.
Mrs. Woods covers the basics, including
numbers, colors and everyday household objects.
You work the words into everyday conversations so that your children pick
them up.
There are also word games that
you can play as well.
I have been teaching myself
Japanese on and off for a few years now, and have picked up a little bit here
and there…mostly by watching moves, anime and tv dramas in subtitles. The book is a great tool to help you learn,
but I noticed that there are a few fundamental things missing from it. The first thing is that there isn’t an explanation
or diagram of the alphabet. The alphabet
is phonetic, meaning that the way something is the way that it sounds when you
speak it. For example, “baka” means idiot
or fool. The alphabet is “ba” (ば) and “ka” (か).
There are also several parts to the alphabet as well: hiragana (the main part), katakana (used for
foreign words) and kanji (modified Chinese that is used for nouns, adjective/verb
stems). Without knowing this, not
only will you not be able to pronounce words, but you also won’t be able to
recognize them when you see them written out.
Looking for a way to beat the heat this summer? Then check out Water Works Part in Denton. The water park features four giant slides, a children's play pool, a continuously flowing river, a sand volleyball court, an outdoor amphitheater, party and picnic pavilions, concessions, and lots of green space!
